This week we feature “3 Questions” with Joanne Serling, author of Good Neighbors, about whom Kirkus Reviews says – “[Serling] writes with verve and frequent insight”. InGood Neighbors, her debut novel, Ms. Sterling focuses on the lives of four young families in an idyllic suburb whose lives, views, and morality are challenged by one family’s upheaval.

1.What three books have helped shape you into the writer you are today, and why?

Mrs. Bridge by Evan S. Connell had a huge influence on me as a writer. It’s an indelible portrait of a housewife navigating the changing American landscape between the first and second world wars. Besides loving the depth and simplicity of the writing, I was amazed at the similarities between the domestic world of Mrs. Bridge and modern American motherhood. I thought, “Ah ha! I want to write about this!” and I pretty much ran to my local library and started what I hoped would be a contemporary version of the book. Needless to say, I got stuck around chapter four. I failed to grasp how nuanced and sharply observed Connell’s masterpiece is, and didn’t yet have my own Mrs. Bridge. But I held on to the idea of short, episodic chapters about domestic life and came back to that form when I landed on the idea for Good Neighbors..

I had a similarly charged reaction when I read That Night by Alice McDermott. Never before had I never read an author who unfolded a single event so masterfully, turning ordinary life into something dramatic and powerful in the process. I ordered all of McDermott’s books after that and just devoured them, underlining passages and trying to figure out her secret. The ‘secret’ is that she’s an incredibly gifted writer, but that exercise grounded me in the idea that everyday life can be made extraordinary with enough love and connection to the material.

Lastly, I have to mention Edith Wharton, particularly Age of Innocence, which I read in college, long before I thought I could dare to become a writer. Wharton’s book electrified me — I couldn’t believe that social class, much less romance, could be the stuff of literature– and that story planted the seed that money and class were worthy of exploration. Wharton is one of my favorite writers and like Mc Dermott, once I discovered her, I read all of her work.

But I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention Kate Walbert’s Our Kind in this list. Her wonderful stories about a certain generation of upper middle class women, told in the first person plural, were like a gateway drug for me. For many years and many drafts, I used a similar narrative style to help tell the story of Good Neighbors. Eventually, I switched the narrative to first person and relegated the large “we” narrator to the prologue and epilogue, but Walbert’s book was a huge inspiration.

2.What author (living or dead) would you most like to have a cup of coffee with and why?

I greatly admire Adam Haslett and would love the chance to tell him in person how much his books have meant to me.

3.What books are currently on your bedside table?

I actually bought a larger bedside table recently, because I had too many books and magazines to fit on the one I owned. But of course, the new table is just as crowded and there are still piles on the floor. All of this to say I’m a peripatetic reader who moves from short stories to novels to essays pretty regularly. In one pile is my stack of New Yorkers, Tin House, and Paris Review issues that I continually dip into when I have just a few minutes and want some nourishment.

NOTE: As part of our mission to promote authors, the joy of reading, and to better understand the craft of writing and the living of life, we’ve paired with the The Norwich Bookstore in Norwich, Vermont to present an ongoing series entitled “3 Questions”. In it, we pose three questions to authors with upcoming visits to the bookstore or bookstore related venues. Their responses are posted on The Book Jam during the days leading up to their engagement. Our hope is that this exchange will offer insight into their work and will encourage readers to both attend these special author events and read their books.

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The Book Jam is…

The view from a small town in Vermont onto the wide world of books where we put the right book in the right hands at the right time.

Through literature and our unique live events — 1) Pages in the Pub, a program bringing disparate communities together around books and 2) BOOK BUZZ, our literacy program for K-12 schools — the Book Jam creates communities. We provide virtual and physical spaces where people can safely discuss difficult issues. Using books, our programs help educate people about important events in their lives and in the lives of others. We build empathy, an essential aspect of healthy communities through discussions about great literature. We increase literacy. And, we draw attention to the wonderful roles of libraries and independent bookstores throughout the world.

WHO WE ARE…

The Book Jam Lisas are two women passionate about reading and sharing our literary discoveries. While we live in the woods, we can spot a great book, especially with the steady stream of excellent suggestions from the indie booksellers up here in Vermont.

WHAT THIS BLOG DOES FOR YOU…

If you’ve got reader’s block – also known as being in a “book jam” – this blog will help. Through posts organized around specific themes and our live events, we open the world of books to you by highlighting books you didn’t even know you needed. If you have issues you need help exploring, this blog will help. If you need to know there are others in the world who feel as you do, this blog will help. We honestly rest easier knowing that you have the right book on your bedside table each night providing whatever it is you need.

Everything we recommend has been personally read and reviewed by one of us – all the way up here in the Green Mountain State.